The killing of Diyar Omari is 'the result of state policy,' say Palestinians

The killing of Palestinians in Israel is the result of "a state policy", Palestinians in Israel said on Sunday, in reaction to the killing of a young Palestinian by an armed Israeli in the town of Sandala, in the Galilee a day prior.

Late on Saturday, an armed Israeli shot dead 20-year-old Diyar Omari following an argument that developed into a fistfight. Israeli media reported that the Israeli man told the police that he shot Omari because he felt in danger when Omari ran towards his car.

Palestinians in Sandala and other Palestinian towns in Galilee launched a general strike on Sunday in protest against the killing of Omari and demanding justice for his death. Israeli police extended the detention of the Israeli man another week, for investigation purposes.

Another Palestinian life lost to settler violence and impunity. 20-year-old Dayar Omari was killed in cold blood by an Israeli settler near his village of Sandala in 'what is now Israel. #ApartheidIsrael must be held accountable for its crimes. #EndIsraeliImpunity pic.twitter.com/nKDG0IWtPF

— Stop The Wall (@stopthewall) May 7, 2023

"My son was killed before he had the time to see anything in life, and before he could do any of the things he wanted to do," Omari's mother told the Palestinian media on Sunday.

"I hold Israeli authorities responsible for my son's death because they allow it," the mother said. "If one of us killed a Jew, the authorities would demolish our house, but my son was killed by a Jew without any consequence."

"When we went to ask what had happened, the police treated us in a violent manner,"  a young Palestinian from Sandala told local media on Sunday.

"The captain told me that they had arrested the suspect, but that the matter will pass, but we don’t want it to pass, we want justice," he added.

"This is the result of allowing Israeli Jews to carry firearms around, and telling them to use them when they feel threatened," a young Palestinian from Nazareth, who asked not to be named, told The New Arab.

"This is what Ben-Gvir wants, and the result is the killing of Palestinians," they added.

In early February, Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, introduced new rules that facilitate acquiring firearms for Israelis, allowing around 10.000 new firearms licenses for Israelis. According to Ben Gvir, the reason for these facilitations was to reduce the chances of Palestinian shooting attacks

'This situation is no longer limited to Ben-Gvir's measures, or even to Palestinians in Israel," Razi Nabulsi, sociology researcher on Palestinians in Israel, based in Haifa, told TNA.

"Today, Palestinians in Israel, just like Palestinians in Gaza, Jerusalem or in the West Bank, can be killed without real consequences, by any Israeli," said Nabulsi.

"Now there are Israeli calls to collect funds to help the Israeli suspect because he is in detention since the murder was caught on video," Nabulsi noted. "But when a young Palestinian from the Naqab was killed by the Israeli police near Al-Aqsa, last month, nothing happened, because the incident wasn't filmed."

"Ben-Gvir's policies only brought the situation of Palestinians in Israel closer to the situation of Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza, but today it’s no longer relevant to speak about Palestinians in Israel separately from Palestinians in other places," Nabulsi added.

Israel tightened control measures on Palestinians in Israel after a wave of Palestinian protests in May 2021 against Israeli expulsion attempts on Palestinian families in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

Since the beginning of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or armed Israelis, including three Palestinians of Israeli citizenship.